Tom Terrific is a 1957–1959animated series on Americantelevision, presented as part of theCaptain Kangaroochildren's television show.^[1]

Created byGene Deitch under theTerrytoons studio (which by that time was a subsidiary of CBS, the network that broadcastCaptain Kangaroo),Tom Terrific was made as twenty-six stories, each split into five episodes, with one five-minute episode broadcast per day. The first thirteen stories were filmed in 1957, with the second set in 1958.Captain Kangaroo continued to rerun the episodes for many years. Starting in 1962,Captain Kangaroo broadcastTom Terrific every other week, alternating with Terrytoons'Lariat Sam.^[2] It was drawn in a simpleblack-and-white style reminiscent of children's drawings. Some of the dialogue was written by cartoonistJules Feiffer.^[3]

Gene Deitch adapted the feature from his earlier newspapercomic strip, "Terr'ble Thompson!" distributed during the 1950s by theUnited Features Syndicate.^[4] Terr'ble Thompson was a six-year-old boy who imagined himself to be the "Hero of Hist'ry" and freelytime traveled to assist historical figures. An illustrated book reprinting the adventures of this precursor to Tom Terrific was published byFantagraphics Books.

All the voices were performed byLionel Wilson (who later voiced Eustace Bagge from theCartoon Network seriesCourage the Cowardly Dog).

The show features a gee-whiz boy hero, Tom Terrific, who lives in atreehouse and canshapeshift into anything he wants, thanks to his magicalfunnel-shaped "thinking cap", which also enhances his intelligence. He has a comic lazybones of asidekick, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, and anarchenemy named Crabby Appleton, whosemotto is, "I'm rotten to the core!"^[5] Other foes include Mr. Instant the Instant Thing King, Captain Kidney Bean, Sweet Tooth Sam the Candy Bandit, and Isotope Feeney the Meany.^[6]

Each episode was shown in five installments, one per day, Monday through Friday.

The character Tom Terrific was ranked #32 byTV Guide magazine on its 2002 list of "50 Greatest TV Cartoon Characters".^[8]

As of 2024^[update], there has not been an authorizedVHS,DVD orBlu-ray release of the series.

• The character also appeared in a comic book published byPines Comics for six issues from Summer 1957 to Fall 1958, with some stories drawn byRalph Bakshi.
• Tom Terrific appeared in a fewWonder Books, an imitation ofLittle Golden Books.
• Crabby Appleton was the name of a rock group, which used the character's image on a 1971 album,Rotten to the Core.
• In the introduction to his book,The Great Big Book of Tomorrow,Tom Tomorrow (Dan Perkins) says that he chose hispseudonym through misremembering the name of Tom Terrific.
• Tom Terrific appeared in the 1999 pilotCurbside, voiced byHaley Joel Osment.^[9]
• American football playerTom Brady attempted to trademark the phrase for himself, but was turned down in August 2019, to prevent confusion with baseball playerTom Seaver.^[10]

• Kevin Scott Collier.The Amazing Transformations of Tom Terrific. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017.ISBN 1974583899

• Tom Terrific atIMDb
• Theme song

• 1957 American animated television series debuts
• 1959 American television series endings
• 1950s American animated television series
• American children's animated comedy television series
• Animated television series about children
• Animated television series about dogs
• Television series about shapeshifting
• Television series by Terrytoons
• Terrytoons characters
• Television characters introduced in 1957
• CBS animated television series
• Television series created by Gene Deitch
• Animated characters introduced in 1957
• Television shows based on comic strips

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